


the one who shoots at the sun

by Latia



Category: Shoujo Kakumei Utena | Revolutionary Girl Utena, ボールルームへようこそ | Ballroom e Youkoso
Genre: (in both series), AU, Alternate Universe, Crossover, F/F, canon typical mentions of sexism, this is really only rated T for swearing to be honest, utena au
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-07-25
Updated: 2017-07-25
Packaged: 2018-12-07 00:36:47
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,187
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11612274
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Latia/pseuds/Latia
Summary: "Don’t you have anything to say?”“About what?”“Aboutthis?"Chinatsu threw her arms apart, as if she could possibly grab hold all of this nonsense in her hands. “What the hell was all of this about, Shizuku?”(written for SASO 2017 Bonus Round 5 - Clue)





	the one who shoots at the sun

**Author's Note:**

  * For [bygoshbygolly](https://archiveofourown.org/users/bygoshbygolly/gifts).



> Prompt: "Chinatsu at the bottom of an enormous staircase with a duelist's ring."
> 
>  
> 
> [Original prompt by Dreamwidth user babster.](http://sportsanime.dreamwidth.org/24808.html?thread=15015912#cmt15015912)

“Who the hell-”

 

 _Clack_.

 

“-had the bright idea-”

 

 _Clack_.

 

“-of putting a damn DANCE FLOOR-”

 

 _Clack_.

 

“-at the the top of a flight of stairs?!”

 

Chinatsu stopped to catch her breath, puffing and panting. Letting her sword drop to her side, she dragged her free palm past her ear, catching any beads of sweat and the few flyaway hairs that managed to escape the severe knot on the top of her head. Her cream-colored dress shirt and sleek black pants had the advantage of making her form look sleek, powerful, and streamlined, and had the distinct disadvantage of being one of the worst possible outfits to wear outdoors on a hot, sunny day, much less climbing a seemingly eternal staircase, outdoors, on a hot sunny day. It wasn’t even the stairs that was such a pain-- dancing had granted her a great deal of endurance, after all. The main problem was all this damn _sun_.

 

“Jeez,” she muttered to herself. “This isn’t even supposed to be the hard part.”

 

She let her eyes drop down to her glossy black shoes- again, one of the worst possible things to be wearing in a situation like this. Chinatsu didn’t even want to think about this blisters this was going to give her. She sighed through her nostrils, finally dragging her gaze back to her goal. Back to the countless steps she still had to challenge. She looked at her hands- a sword in one, a ring carved to look like a rose adorning the other.

 

“God DAMN it, Shizuku,” she hissed.

 

 

* * *

 

 

Chinatsu paused once again when she crested the final step. She had managed to bring her breathing back to an even pace ages ago, but she still stopped to watch the two figures who cut through air at the top of the staircase. Alone on the massive dance floor, their presence felt inhumanly huge. Their proportions fit each other like puzzle pieces. Like they were meant for each other.

 

Anyone with an ounce of common sense could see they were a perfect match.

 

Chinatsu sighed.

 

“Gaju!”

 

Gaju and Shizuku broke apart with a liquid movement. Shizuku flowed into a delicate standing position at Gaju’s side, hands folded in front of her like a butterfly knife. She stared at Chinatsu coolly as Gaju stooped over a moment, wiping his brow.

 

It seemed to take the elder Akagi a few seconds before he registered Chinatsu. “Ah?... Oh, Chinatsu-chan!” He straightened up, grinning like a cat. “What are you doing here? You come to watch?” He didn’t even wait for her to answer. “What’d you think of our practice?” He placed his hands on Shizuku’s shoulders, tugging her in proudly. Possessively. Shizuku’s face didn’t move. “We make a good pair, don’t you think? I’ve never had a partner like Shizuku-chan!”

 

“You  _have_ a partner, Gaju.”

 

Gaju’s furiously sunny face finally wavered, and his smile dropped. “Come on, don’t be like that.” He let go of Shizuku, dragging his hand against the back of his neck. “This was the best thing for both of us-- all three of us.” There was a growl in his voice, but the distant, angled look in his eyes didn’t match it. “Even if Mako doesn’t know it yet.”

 

“Finding the right partner is a difficult process.” Shizuku’s voice was as distant and airy as her smile, but her eyes were right on Chinatsu. “You know how hard it can be, right, Chinatsu-chan?”

 

Chinatsu ground her back teeth together, biting back the words and bile that rose in her throat. The memories of dance articles, the clippings of a little boy recounting how he only got into dance because of his clingy little sister.

 

Instead she inhaled. “So are we going to do this or what?”

 

“Huh?”

 

“The roses? The fighting? All that nonsense?” Chinatsu brandished her sword. “I know I didn’t climb a dozen stories of stairs just to chat.”

 

“...wait.” Gaju’s eyes drifted from Chinatsu’s sword, to her ring, to the clothes that mirrored his own, and finally, she saw the flicker of realization in his eyes. “You’re… _you’re_ the challenger?”

 

She dropped to a fighting stance in response. Gaju’s swung his head between her and Shizuku.

 

“Is… is this a joke?”

 

“Is there a problem?” Chinatsu’s voice already sounded tired. She already knew what was coming next.

 

“Chinatsu-chan, you can’t… you’re not a leader, you’re a partner.” Gaju’s voice rose and fell on a nervous peal of laughter. “You’re a girl.”

 

It would have stung less if he sneered when he said it.

 

Chinatsu exhaled, and beckoned the words to her lips mechanically. “The rules, as put forward by End of The World, state that anyone may challenge the current fiance of the Rose Bride-”

 

“I, no, listen,  I know what the rules _say_ , but you and Shizuku can’t… you can’t…”

 

“Chinatsu-chan must be pretty confident if she think she can challenge you,” Shizuku observed, each word crisp and steel in the air. “A partner going toe to toe with a leader in a duel is almost unheard of. It would have to be an exceptionally talented partner...” She smiled right at Chinatsu. “Or an exceptionally lackluster leader. I almost wonder if she’s insulting you, Gaju-kun.”

 

The knife found Gaju’s heart like an owl finding a mouse. “ _What_ ? This isn’t an insult…” Gaju’s voice trailed off, and his eyes found Chinatsu again, hard and narrow. “ _Is_ this an insult?”

 

Chinatsu tried not to roll her eyes. “It can be whatever you want.”

 

“Did Hyoudou put you up to this?? Or, or Tatara??”

 

 _Oh for the love of God_. “Yes Gaju. Tatara and Hyoudou teamed up specifically to undermine you by sending a poor little girl to fight you. Can we _fight_ now?”

 

Gaju bristled, and Shizuku stepped back into Chinatsu’s point of view, now inexplicably wearing a bizarre fairytale confection of red velvet and jade satin. Her hand found Gaju’s lapel, planting a bright orange rose at his breast. “Fine,” he spat. “Whatever this is, I’ll play along.”

 

“Sure,” said Chinatsu dully. Shizuku flowed over to her, dreamlike, granting her a rose the same shade of crimson of her hair and a smile that shimmered like sunlight on ice.

 

“Good luck.”

 

Chinatsu pointedly ignored her gaze.

 

“I just hope you know I won’t go easy on you just because you’re a girl.” Gaju dropped to a fighting stance. “So get ready. Because this’ll be over in a flash!”

 

 

* * *

 

 

And it was over in a flash.

 

“Ah?”

 

Gaju blinked, fishlike. His eyes darted, jumping from Chinatsu to Shizuku to the storm of orange petals leaking from his breastbone.

 

“Wait, that’s not... “ He held his hand halfway to the gutted rose, as if he could put it back together. “Wait, I… hold on.”

 

“You lost, Gaju.” Chinatsu walked past him to Shizuku’s side-- and despite the stew of emotions sloshing in her chest, she couldn’t help flashing him a razor-blade grin. “Thank you for not going easy on me.”

 

“But… that’s not…” Gaju was still kneeling as he looked up at Shizuku’s face. “S... Shizuku-chan?”

 

Shizuku smiled at him sweetly.

 

“Be sure not to get home too late, Gaju. You wouldn't want to keep your sister waiting.”

 

The two girls left him there, still staring at the spill of orange on the floor.

 

* * *

 

Tatara was the one who lent her the shoes. Chinatsu had always been a little self-conscious about the size of her feet, but at least in this case it meant she didn’t have to spring for a new pair.

 

“Um…” He had twisted his hands in the bottom of his shirt as he saw her off. “Good luck, Chii-chan. Do your best...um!”  And he had suddenly straightened his shoulders, as if he knew that these were the words that would be most important. “And remember: you have to win Shizuku-chan back!”

 

Mako had waited politely at the side, holding the sword carefully, looking on as Chinatsu wasted a good fifteen seconds tugging at Tatara’s cheek as he writhed.

 

“W-what was that for?!” He had managed to blurt, just before she left.

 

She had sighed, already too tired to summon any anger. “You don’t get it, so I can’t explain.”

 

Tatara’s baffled face stayed with her as she started up the stairs.

 

 

* * *

 

 

Between the sound of steel clashing, on the edges of her vision, Chinatsu had caught glimpses of Shizuku practicing. As she and Gaju met between swords and the scent of flowers, the Rose Bride had danced with empty arms at the edge of the battlefield, eyes hard and far, far away from the two duelists.

 

 

* * *

 

 

“Goddamn--  _stairs--_ ”

 

It couldn’t have been a fourth of the way down the steps before Chinatsu had to stop once again, stooped over and panting. At least this time she could blame it on the exhaustion of the duel.

 

Shizuku stepped close as she bent over, placing one delicate hand on Chinatsu’s rolling chest, the other between her shoulder blades. She leaned over her, and Chinatsu could feel her spill of dark hair grazing her neck…

 

Chinatsu--

 

(stayed like that for a split second.)

 

Chinatsu straightened up abruptly, guiding Shizuku away with an arm as hard as she could without actually shoving her. “Lord, don’t _cling_ to me.” It reminded her too much of another girl. “I’m fine.”

 

Shizuku stepped back gracefully, folding her hands and bowing. “My apologies, Chinatsu-sam--”

 

“Oh _don’t fucking start_.” Sweating, exhausted, and pissed off, Chinatsu was done with etiquette. She rolled her neck as she pulled her hair loose in a snappy motion. “I _know_ you didn’t use ‘-sama’ for Gaju.”

 

Shizuku watched Chinatsu behind the sheen of her glasses. Chinatsu glared back, challenging.

 

“Don’t you have anything to say?”

 

“About what?”

 

“About _this?”_ Chinatsu threw her arms apart, as if she could possibly grab hold all of this nonsense in her hands. “What the hell was all of this about, Shizuku?”

 

“It’s my duty, as the Rose Bride--”

 

“Bullshit.”

 

Shizuku’s gaze finally dropped to something other than empty or condescending, but Chinatsu wasn’t sure if it was much better. It was a mix of many things, but Chinatsu could recognize at least one vital component.

 

Shizuku looked tired.

 

“I don’t want to be left behind.” Her pose, her face, not even the angle of her head changed, but the Rose Bride somehow suddenly looked much younger. “I _can’t_ be left behind. And no matter how much I improve, I can only ever be seen in relationship to a leader. I thought you of all people might understand that.”

 

For the first time, Chinatsu felt a pang of guilt, but she chewed it down. “So you’re just in this to improve. To move ahead. Even when it means you’re stepping on other people’s backs?”

 

Shizuku’s face finally twitched. “Mako understands why I have to do this.” Even as her words remained smooth, Chinatsu knew she had cut deep. “She’d do the same thing if she could.”

 

“We both know that’s not true, Shizuku.”

 

Shizuku’s lips pursed together.

 

“Mako’s not like us. She loves dance, but she wants to stand next to her brother. She doesn’t have to be the best.”

 

“Well, I suppose it's a good thing I’m not Mako then.”

 

“You don’t have to do this.”

 

“Yes, I do.”

 

It was the closest she came to raising her voice.

 

“I want to be the best. I can only be seen in relationship to a leader.” Shizuku’s lips moved like some pretty piece of machinery. “The duels make it so I move to better leaders. It’s a simple system. It’s almost elegant.”

 

“Sure,” spat Chinatsu. “All you have to do is make yourself a trophy.”

 

A muscle in Shizuku’s jaw jumped, but she kept her gaze cold and hard. “If I cared about making myself a trophy, I would have stopped dancing years ago.”

 

Chinatsu kept her eyes locked with Shizuku's even as the air in her chest burned.

 

“...whatever. Fine.” She turned away from the Rose Bride looking down at the seemingly endless stairs they had still to descend. “As it stands, I’m the most talented leader you’ve got, so I guess you’re sticking with me.”

 

“For now.”

 

“For as long as I can manage.”

 

“I wonder how you’ll do once Kiyoharu comes back?”

 

Chinatsu shot her a coy look. “If I can’t beat him with a sword I’ll just push him down all these damn stairs.”

 

Shizuku’s lips twisted for an instant before they forced themselves back into a flat line. “That’s a bit tasteless.”

 

“What, too soon?” Chinatsu bit back her grin, trying to remind herself she was mad at Shizuku. She forced her eyes back to the staircase, and sighed. “...ugh. What’s the point of being betrothed to the Rose Bride if you can’t even put some complaints into management.”

 

“What did you have in mind?”

 

“A uniform that isn’t a living hell outdoors, for starters. Something with shorts. And maybe a damn elevator. Or at least…” Chinatsu grit her teeth as she began her descent once more. “A few hundred less god forsaken _stairs_.”

 

Shizuku followed her, perfect and graceful. “Try it while wearing high heels.”

**Author's Note:**

> i hope no one seemed to out of character in this one. i had to think a lot about how Chinatsu and Gaju would interact, considering Chinatsu seems to respect him in canon. that's not even touching Shizuku.
> 
> i can't believe how much i wrote about Gaju!! i'm not his biggest fan but i think he's not the same type of guy, say, Touga or Saionji is, for example.


End file.
